Was John Cena really naked at the 2024 Oscars?
John Cena’s catchphrase “You can’t see me” may have a brand new meaning now.
Cena was at the 2024 Academy Awards or Oscars to present the award for best costume design, which ultimately went to the sci-fi drama Poor Things.
But ironically, the actor-wrestler seemed to not have a costume at all, as he went to the stage without any clothes on.
Except for his sandals, Cena was just covering his crotch with the envelope containing the winner’s name.
The gimmick was apparently a reference to the 1974 Oscars when David Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor—only to be interrupted by a naked man who ran on stage.
“Can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today?” Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel asked the audience. “I said, can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today? Wouldn’t that be crazy?”
That’s when Cena appeared to show much of his skin and talk to Kimmel.
“I changed my mind. I don’t want to do the streaker bit,” Cena told Kimmel. “I just don’t feel right about it.
“It’s an elegant event, you know, you should feel shame right now for suggesting such a tasteless joke,” he added.
Kimmel noted it was meant to be funny, only for Cena to emphasize, “The male body is not a joke.”
Cena “cannot” lift the envelope for obvious reasons, so the lights went off for a while.
After it came back, he was already in a curtain-like golden toga to present the award.
While fans exploded in laughter, some were asking whether Cena was actually naked.
The long and the short of it: No.
John Cena isn't actually naked when he took the Oscars stage. (Richard Harbaugh/AMPAS via AFP, Getty Images/Handout via AFP)
Photos backstage showed him wearing a modesty pouch, which works like underwear to cover one’s front and back.
Cena had a cameo appearance in the live-action adaptation of Barbie.
His upcoming project is the comedy movie Ricky Stanicky.